Foot or road crossing.



0. M. SUTER.

FOOT 08 ROAD CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I8. 1918.

1 ,27'5, l Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

O. M. SUTER. FOOT 0R ROAD CROSSING. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I8. 1918.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918'.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.'

O. M. SUTER. FOOT OR ROAD CROSSING. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I8. I918.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

OSCAR M. SU'IER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOOT OR ROAD CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 13, 1918,

Application filed March 18, 1918. Serial No. 223,206.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR M. SUTER, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Foot or Road Crossings;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to street, road or sidewalk crossings for railways;that is to say, to means for providing a substantially level path acrossa railroad track and desirably on an approximate level with the top ofthe rails. Wooden crossings as heretofore commonly used for thisgeneral. purpose have usually been nailed to the ties, thereby involvingconsiderable time in removing the same to permit repairs to the track.Or, where such crossings hzwe been built of wood in sections, theirrelative lightness has permitted them to be raised and damaged by thecatching of broken brake-beams on the same. Moreover, with the greatincrease in the cost of timber during recent years, the cost of suchwooden crossings has proven a serious objection to the same.

On the other hand, concrete crossings when laid across the space betweenthe rails of a track have been disintegrated by the vibration of thetrack, and particularly by the vibration of the rails against. thecontiguous portions of the concrete. Likewise, where concrete has beentried for this purpose in a slab narrower than the space between therails, the flanges on the wheels have forced mud and snow down betweensuch a slab and the rails, thus gradually lifting the slab out of itsnormal position and subjecting it to damage both from vehicles crossingthe track and from depending parts of the rolling stock passing over thetrack. This last named difliculty has also been encountered with woodencrossings built in sections narrower than the space between the runningrails of the track, hence mud guards of various forms have beeninterposed between such crossing portions and the running rails of thetrack. Such mud guards have been commonly fastened either to thecrossing portions or to the ties, and in either case have increased thedifliculties of repairing the crossings or the track.

My invention aims to provide a crossing construction which will overcomeall of these various objections and which will lend itself equally Wellto a variety of materials, such as reinforced concrete. Moreparticularly, myinvention aims to provide a crossing slabwhich will notneed to be fastened to the ties or other track portions, but which willbe retained in proper operative positlon by gravity and by engagementwith some of the ties on which it rests; which will permit the use ofturneddown rail sections as mud guards, and in which the crossing slabwould automatically hold such mud guards in operative position, whilepermitting the ready removal of the mud guards when theslab itself islifted out of its normal position. Furthermore, my invention aims toprovide a crossing slab with ends so arranged as to make it practicallyimpossible for objects depending from railway crossings to catch on thesame, although still permitting a speedy lifting and removing of such aslab in case it should be desirable to replace the same or to'm-ake anyneeded repairs to the track. Likewise, my invention aims to providecrossing sections of an allied type for use outside the running rails ofthe track, and to utilize such crossing sections for holding simple andcheaply constructed mud guards in effective position, while readilypermitting the removal of both the slabs and the mud guards whennecessary. Still further objects will appear from the accompanyingdrawings which show certain desirable embodiments of my invention,though it will be obvious that these embodiments might be varied in manyrespects without departing from the spirit of the appended claims. Inthe drawings,

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a railroad track, showing acrossing of my invention employing reinforced concrete slab, the tops ofthe intermed of the along Fig. i is a perspective view of the centralfor the crossing slabs, a portion of the concrete being broken away toshow the reinforcing.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken centrally of the track andlongitudinally of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectiontaken the zigzag line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

slab member of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan View of a track portion equipped between the rails witha pair of cooperating slabs and a pair of wooden mud guards held inplace by these slabs.

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section through Fig. 5 along the line6-43.

Fig. 7 is a perspective v1ew of one of the concrete slabs shown outsideof the track in Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 6 Fig. and of a cIOSSing slab designedfor a road or walk oblique to the track, this slab being equipped withanother arrangement for preventing its movement longitudinally of thetrack.

Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken along the zi zag line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

n carrying out my invention after the manner of Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive,I employ a central crossing slab, deslrably reinforced concrete, andconsisting of a fiat slab provided at each end with a downwardlyinclined portion somewhat wider than the main portion of the slab. Thetips ofthe downwardly sloping ends are desirably so spaced that theseends will respectively engage two of the ties of the track, as shown inFig. 2, this being easily attained since the spacing of the ties isusually standardized and any variation can readily be overcome byslightly shifting one of the ties in position when the slab is set intoplace. To afiord the proper bearing for the iate ties which support theweight of the slab are leveled uniformly, and the ballast is slightlyexcavated to permit the downwardly directed tips of the slab to extendbelow the level tops of the ties.

' Before the slab is placed in position, I lay a mud guard rail inposition adjacent to each of the track rails and in the space betweenthe same, desirably using for this purpose sections of old railsapproximating in length the distance between the shoulders 2 of theprojecting tips 3 at the opposite ends of the slab. When the centralslab itself is dropped into position as shown in Fig. 1, the lateralfaces 5 of the slab will cooperate with the adjacent ties and the websof the running rails in holding the guard rails 4 in operative position,while the shoulders 2 on the projecting tips 3 of the slab will preventthe guard rails from sliding lengthwise of the track. Consequently,these downmade of 7 7, so that these wardly sloping tips 3 will operateto prevent both the slab as a whole and the guard rails from slidinglengthwise of the track.

In practice, I have found that while the guard rails 4 are vibrated tosome extent when rolling stock is passing over the running rails 6, theflat engagement of the base of the guard rail l with the adjacentlateral face 5 of the slab distributes the vibration so that the latterdoes not have any disintegrating efiect on the concrete slab. At thesame time, the flat upper surface of the slab shows the usual durabilityof reinforced concrete, while the downwardly sloping ends prevent anydangling parts carried by the railway rolling stock from catching on theslab and damaging the latter. However, if track repairs are necessary,the ends of the slab can easily be pried up with crowbars and sticks canbe slid through under the same, so that the slab can be lifted to oneside of the track, thereby permitting the removal of the mud guards andexposing the space between the rails. Then when the needed repairs havebeen made, the guard rails are easily placed in position, whereupon areturning of the slab locks these guard rails in their efi'ectiveposition, so that they prevent any crowding of mud or snow under theslab.

For the crossing portion outside the track proper, I also' desirablyemploy concrete slabs, and as the car wheels present no flanges outsideof the running rail, I preferably employ a guard rail substantiallyflush with the top of the running rail 6 and the lateral slab 7, asshown in Fig. 3. For this purpose, l'desirably employ a guard 8 made ofwood shaped at its opposite lateral edges respectively for fitting theside of the rail 6 and for entering a'recess 9 in the adjacent lateralface of the slab 7. This guard rail 8 is desirably of such length as tofit between laterally projecting tips 3 on the slab tips will preventthe guard 8 from sliding out of its operative position. To prevent sucha lateral slab 7 from moving away from the rail 6, l desirably equip itslower face with a recess extending longitudinally of the track andmatching a timber 9 spiked to the ties at a suitable distance from therail 6. lhen by employing downwardly directed ends for the slab as shownin Fig. 7, and by having these ends engage ties of the track after themanner of Fig. 2, I efiiectively anchor the slab against movementlongitudinally of the track. oreover, by providing the wooden guard 8with lateral tenons respectively underhanging the head of the rail 6 andentering the recess 9, I cause this guard rail to act substantially as alateral extension for the'slab 7 on the side next to the rail 6.Consequently, a downward pressure on the right hand edge lllltl) of theslab 7 in Fig. 3 will not appreciably tilt this slab even though thelatter considerably overhangs the end of the tie 10.

However, I do not wish to be limited either to constructions employingthe tips of the slabs for engaging the ties, or affording crossings atright angles to the track, or using slabs in single sections. Neither doI wish to be limited to other details of the construction andarrangement here disclosed, such as the use of turned down rail sectionsas mud guards between the rails of the track. For example, the centralcrossing portion might be constructed of two slabs each of the typesshown in Fig. 7

and used with wood guard rails 11 after the manner of Fig.6, in whichcase the two slabs would cooperate with these guard rails 11 in spanningthe space between the running rails of the track, thus obviating theneed of the guard'timbers 9 between the rails. Likewise, where otherthan a right angle, the general shape of the slabs or crossing sections(which obviously need not be made of any one particular material) may bevaried accordingly. For example, Fig. 8 shows a slab designed for anoblique crossing. So also, instead of using end portions of the slabsfor engaging certain of the ties to prevent a displacement of the slablongitudinally of the track, I may use other forms of cooperatingformations upon the ties and slab, such as the downwardly extendingridges 12 on the slabs of Figs. 8 and 9.

I claim as my invention.

1. In a track crossing, a crossing section resting upon the ties of thetrack and equipped with downwardly directed formations engaging certainof the ties to revent a movement of the said crossing sectionlongitudinally of the track.

2. A track crossing portion comprising a crossing section resting uponthe ties, .and a pair of guard rails interposed between 0pposite sidesof the crossing section and the running rails of the track, the crossingsection being equipped with formations respectivgely engaging certainties of the track an displacement of both the said crossing section andthe guard rails longitudinally of the track.

3. A track crossing portion comprising a slab or unit crossing sectionresting upon the ties, and a pair of guard rails interposed betweenopposite sides of the slab and the running rails of the track, the slabbeing equipped with downwardly sloping ends the foot path or, vehiclepath extends across the railroad at' .both

engaging the guard rails to prevent a.

adapted respectively to engage two ties of,

the track, the said ends extending laterally beyond the slab so as toafford stops for preventing a relative longitudinal movenhelnt of theguard rails with respect to the s a 4;. Track crossing constructionincluding a pair of guard rails disposed adjacent to the opposed sidesof the running rails of the track, and a crossin portion interposedbetween the said guarf rails and holding the latter in operativeposition, the said crossing portion having means interlocking with bothof the guard rails and with ties of the track to prevent a relativemovement of the said crossing parts longitudinally of the track.

5. In a track crossing, a guard rail hav ing a portion underhanging thehead of one of the track rails, a substantially flat crossing portionresting upon ties of the track and laterally engaging the guard rail,means associated with the said crossing portion for preventingdisplacement of the latter both longitudinally and laterally of therunning rail, and means upon the said crossing portion for preventing arelative longitudinal movement of the guard rail with respect to thelatter.

6. A track crossing portion comprising a slab restifig upon the ties ofthe track and equipped with downwardly directed formations engagingcertain of the ties to prevent a movement of the slab longitudinally ofthe track, the slab being of concrete with embedded reinforcementsincluding rods having downwardly directed portions extending below thetops of the said certain ties.

7. In a track crossing, a pair of guard rails adjacent to the runningrails of the track and respectively underhanging the heads ofthe runningrails, and a slab of reinforced concrete, disposed between the guardrails and formed for interlocking with a tie of the track and with theends of guard rails. i

8. Track crossing construction including as one element a guard railadjacent to the runnihg rail of the track, and as another element aconcrete slab interlocked with the guard rail to prevent relative motionthereof longitudinally of the track, one of the said elements havingformations engaging ties of the track to prevent relative movementthereof longitudinally of the track.

1Signed at Chicago, Illinois, March 4th,

OSCAR M. SUTER.

